Until yesterday, Nov. 15, 1987 was the last time an #NFL team started a former #Alabama player at QB won the game http://ow.ly/WaIDj

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On Nov. 15, 1987, the New York Giants started Jeff Rutledge at quarterback for injured regular Phil Simms. Rutledge completed 16-of-30 passes for 298 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions in the Giants' 20-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Until Sunday, that was the most recent NFL game in which the winning team had started a former Alabama player at quarterback. On Sunday, AJ McCarron ended the Crimson Tide's drought, guiding the Cincinnati Bengals to a 24-14 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in his first NFL start.

Like Rutledge, McCarron got the call because the regular was hurt. Last week, the Bengals' starting QB, Andy Dalton, suffered a broken thumb.

McCarron completed 15-of-21 passes for 192 yards and one touchdown without an interception. The former St. Paul's star threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tyler Kroft in the second quarter as Cincinnati took a 21-0 lead.

the last time the Rebels played in the Sugar Bowl -- Jan. 1, 1970 -- Manning started at quarterback and led Ole Miss to a 27-22 upset of Arkansas.

“It’ll be so much fun to have so many of our Ole Miss friends in town. Obviously everyone’s excited about being in the Sugar Bowl,” Manning said Monday. “Non-Ole Miss people can’t believe it’s been that long. Somebody will say it’s been 46 years since Ole Miss played in the Sugar Bowl and they’ll go, ‘You’re kidding me!’”

The Rebels (9-3) will face Oklahoma State (10-2) in the Jan. 1 bowl, marking the second straight season that Ole Miss has played in a New Year’s Six game. (Fiddy!)

“[Ole Miss fans are] extremely excited,” McAllister said. “The BCS and the playoff system has changed the landscape as far as the bowls are concerned, but you still think of the Sugar Bowl and its storied history and what it means -- just the appearances the university has had in it in the past and to be able to get back in that place, or at least in that rotation. It doesn’t show you’ve arrived, but you’re getting close to being in that [playoff] conversation.”

Daniel Carlson and Memphis kicker Jake Elliott have become quite familiar with each other in recent weeks. Two of the nation’s premier college kickers built a bond during their rounds at the postseason awards show — the two plan to go toe to toe, so to speak, in the Birmingham Bowl next week to determine just who has the better leg. Auburn and Memphis face off at Legion Field on Dec. 30 at 11 a.m. on ESPN.

“We were joking about that a little bit, kind of like a face-off here to see who is — because we have the exact same stats — to see who out of the two is the better kicker,” Carlson said. “It'll be fun. We were joking about it all week so I'm excited.”

An Indianapolis clinic reportedly shipped performance-enhacing drugs, including human-growth hormones, to the house of Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, according to a report by Al Jazeera via Huffington Post.

According to “The Dark Side,” an undercover investigation of performance-enhancing drugs in sports, pharmacist Charlie Sly, who worked at the Guyer Institute, the Indiana-based anti-aging clinic, in 2011 — when Manning was a member of the Indianapolis Colts — said the team there helped Manning rehab from a neck injury that caused him to miss the entire season that year. The following season, Manning joined the Broncos as a free agent.

Sly alleges the clinic sent growth hormone and other drugs to Ashley Manning, Manning’s wife, so that there could never be a connection to Peyton. On an undercover video, Sly said the Mannings also came to the clinic after normal business hours for intravenous treatments.

“All the time we would be sending Ashley Manning drugs,” Sly says in the video. “Like growth hormone, all the time, everywhere, Florida. And it would never be under Peyton’s name, it would always be under her name.”

Perhaps during the season he took off.

Peter King Verified account‏@SI_PeterKing

Manning2: “It never happened. Never … Whoever said this is making stuff up."

Both juniors, the duo will finish among the top 10 receivers all-time for a single season in program history. Mississippi State (8-4, 4-4 SEC) plays North Carolina State (7-5, 3-5 ACC) on Wednesday (2:30 p.m. ESPN) in the Belk Bowl.

Ross holds the single season record for receptions in a season with 81. His 933 yards rank second all-time behind Mardye McDole’s 1,035 receiving yards in 1978.

“I kind of expected to be a little further than 933,” Ross said. “I’m just blessed to be able to have done what I’ve done. I just want to go out strong and finish strong.”

Ross wanted to eclipse 1,000 yards during the regular season. Wilson set even loftier expectations, adding 20 touchdowns to the 1,000-yard total as his preseason baseline.

The former Mr. Basketball in Alabama finished the regular season with 822 yards and nine touchdowns. The 6-foot-5 junior holds the No. 2 spots for single-season (tying his total from last year with nine) and career receiving touchdowns (21).

Wilson already ranks eighth on MSU’s list for single season receptions with 55. He needs 23 yards in the Belk Bowl to break into the top 10 in terms of single-season yards.

No teammates in program history have appeared on either list in the same season.

Prescott’s win was just the second national award won by a Mississippi State player in the 116-year history of the school’s football team — the other being Johnthan Banks’ 2012 Jim Thorpe award for the best defensive back in football.

Prescott is the 12th SEC player to win the award, and the first since Tim Tebow in 2009, who was also coached by Dan Mullen.

“Class is something that has epitomized Dak Prescott’s entire career,” Mullen said. “He has been a tremendous ambassador for our university and football team, and I am proud of him capturing the Senior CLASS Award. Whether it was his work in the community or his leadership on the field, Dak has raised the standard of excellence at Mississippi State. He will leave Starkville with an undergraduate degree, a master’s degree and a lifetime of memories.”

Last year, Prescott received an undergraduate degree in educational psychology. He completed a master’s degree in workforce leadership in December.

The Hall of Fame actually represents closer to one one-hundredth of a percent of all college football players. And as of Wednesday, Kentucky all-time great Art Still is officially one of them.

Still played at Kentucky from 1974-77 under coach Fran Curci and was part of the Wildcats’ historic 10-1 season as a senior. The defensive end accumulated 327 tackles in his career. Sacks were not recorded during his four years in college and tackles for a loss weren’t kept track of until his senior season, when he collected 22 — still a school record.

Still was taken by the Kansas City Chiefs with the second overall pick in the 1978 NFL Draft behind Earl Campbell...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Bill Snyder just finished his 24th season at Kansas State. He’s seen a lot of good running backs in his day. But Alex Collins of Arkansas might be near the top of that list.

"He wasn’t any different than what we saw on videotape," Snyder said Saturday’s Liberty Bowl loss to Arkansas. "He’s a very explosive young guy. He runs downhill extremely well, but he can make you miss. He’s an extremely talented young guy.

"As you look, you have a plethora of exciting and talented running backs in the SEC. And he’s at the top of the list, I think."

He’s the only current running back in the conference to rush for more than 1,000 yards in three straight seasons.

"The kid is unbelievable," Arkansas offensive lineman Sebastian Tretola said after the bowl game. "He runs angry, he runs mad, the legs never stop, and that adds to our mentality. The offensive linemen keep going -- even if you miss your block, he might make that guy miss, so you better keep running because you might help him 20 or 30 yards down the field."

Leonard Fournette has one big advantage over Christian McCaffrey in the race for next year’s Heisman http://sec.news/1Ric7W5

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Fournette bore the look of a Heisman shoo-in for the first two months of this season; but a desultory effort against Alabama (31 rushing yards, one TD) — coupled with LSU’s 30-16 defeat and Derrick Henry’s 200-yard eruption on the same field — knocked Fournette from the ranks of being an unimpeachable front-runner

In fact, five weeks later, Fournette didn’t even garner an invite to New York City, as one of the three Heisman finalists (Alabama’s Henry, Stanford’s McCaffrey, Clemson QB Deshaun Watson) — despite finishing with the nation’s best per-game average for rushing yards.

That snub was the perfect catalyst for Fournette’s easy-to-predict explosion in the Texas Bowl. Facing Texas Tech — one of the country’s worst rushing defenses — the LSU sophomore absurdly amassed 256 total yards (212 rushing) and five touchdowns (four rushing).

Jeremy Hill said when he ran out to confront Ryan Shazier following Giovani Bernard's injury that he said to him, "I don't understand. That's not football. I'm disappointed." Said he's a good friend of Shazier's. That surprised him.

Derrick Henry (@KingHenry_2) has broken several #Alabama records, including 3 last night http://ow.ly/WXXwa

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Henry finished the season with an SEC-record 2,219 rushing yards and a conference-record 28 rushing touchdowns.

Henry's 2,219 rushing yards ranks as the fifth-most in a single-season in FBS history.

The 28 rushing touchdowns are tied for eighth-most.

Henry broke several prominent Alabama records, including three Monday night.

The biggest: He passed former Tide great Shaun Alexander for first place on the Tide's career rushing list despite only getting 36 carries as a freshman in 2013 and splitting carries with T.J. Yeldon as a sophomore last year before becoming Alabama's lead back this season.

Through three seasons, Henry has rushed for 3,591 yards.

Alexander rushed for 3,565 yards from 1996-99.

Henry also broke the Tide's record for 100-yard rushing games in a single-season and a career.

It was Henry's 10th 100-yard rushing game this season.

With the three touchdowns Monday night, Henry now has 42 career rushing touchdowns, which is tied with Ingram for the most in school history.

AL.com sports ‏@aldotcomSports 10h10 hours ago

Derrick Henry is unquestionably one of the greatest players in the history of #Alabama football http://ow.ly/WYeZH via @JoeGoodmanJr

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The smoke from Alabama's victory cigars was all but gone on Monday night when Derrick Henry and Shaun Alexander finally had time to share a quiet moment together.

"When you got leaders who push everyone by example that means everything, and that's what he does," said Alexander, the Crimson Tide's previous record holder in carries in a season (302).

Alexander knows it's Henry's time.

Alexander, who rushed for 3,565 yards at Alabama, calls Henry his "nephew," and Henry refers to Alexander as his uncle. The two statistically greatest running backs in Alabama history share a bond deeper than football. For the first time in their relationship they likely celebrated as two former Alabama running backs after the Crimson Tide's 45-40 victory against Clemson.

Henry hasn't made it official, but those closest to him are certain his junior season at Alabama was his last. He did in three seasons what it took Alexander to do in four.

Still closely connected to his alma mater, Alexander began mentoring Henry when he was a freshman. He played a role in convincing Henry not to transfer before his sophomore season, and Alexander then helped keep Henry grounded once he found success.

"This game can be put in the wrong place of importance, and if it's put in the wrong place at this great university, it can overwhelm," Alexander said.

Bo Jackson, the supremely strong and swift Los Angeles Raiders running back, suffered a severe hip injury while playing in an AFC divisional playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 13, 1991. The injury was later complicated by a condition called avascular necrosis, which impedes blood flow and destroys bone cells and cartilage. Although Jackson didn't know it at the time, his football career was over at age 28.

Jackson had previously won the 1985 Heisman Trophy at Auburn and starred as an outfielder for the Kansas City Royals. His ability to outrun and run over defenders was legendary on football fields, as was his hitting power and mighty throwing arm in baseball stadiums. He remains the only athlete to play in the MLB All-Star Game and be named to the NFL's Pro Bowl.

On the 25th anniversary of Jackson's last NFL game, we present 10 things to know about one of the greatest athletes of all time.

After missing a 27-yard field goal with less than a minute remaining in the Minnesota Vikings’ playoff loss to the Seahawks on Sunday, the former Georgia kicker received a lot of vitriol online from enraged fans. However, a group of first-graders made news Wednesday when they offered condolences and encouragement to the discouraged specialist in the form of letters...

In response to this outpouring of support, Walsh said that he will visit the school Thursday morning to take pictures and sign autographs for his young supporters.

The former Tennessee star was at the center of an investigation aired on the news network that his wife received human growth hormone, perhaps for her husband. Manning quickly and passionately denied the report, which was eventually discredited when the main source of the story said he fabricated the tale. Manning said he would probably sue the network.

Al Jazeera America announced it would shut down in April after debuting in 2013.

“I’m sure it’s going to be just devastating to all their viewers,” Manning said.

Linebackers are usually on the “hands team” to block for receivers and tight ends.

Not Davis.

“They joke about it all the time. It was funny the first time I went out there everybody was like, ‘What’s TD doing out there? He’s walking out there with hands (team),’” Davis said. “But just know that in that situation I’m going to give everything that I have to the team and make sure I come away with that football.”

Special teams coordinator Bruce DeHaven says he puts the players on the field he believes can best win the game.

“Hands team is like a parachute,” DeHaven said. “Don’t need it very often, but when you do you really need it.”

Davis is now 2-for-2 in onside recoveries during his first season on the hands team. He also grabbed Dallas kicker Dan Bailey’s onside attempt near the end of the Panthers’ Thanksgiving Day win.